Erik ten Hag | 2022/23 & 2023/24

[Superunknown]

The bit that concerns me is that, Rasmus aside in the CF role, that was pretty much our best 11. When Eriksen and Sancho came on, they were arguably the other two who would make up that best 11 in place of Mount and Garnacho. 5 days until we play Spurs away. Realistically, not sure how much of an improvement we're going to see fitness-wise in those 5 days. What I definitely want to see is more control in midfield and less wastefulness when we have got the ball. The lack of control and how easy we were to run through (especially in the middle) are both concerns.

For what it's worth, I expect us to play much better in the next game.

 

[OldSchoolManc]

I would hope that in the cold light of day, Ten Hag will watch that match back over the next few days and realise how bad it was.
Fingers crossed

 

[the_cliff]

He needs squad reinforcements on time, just like any football manager.

He's spent nearly 400 mill....

 

[Lay]

He talks a decent game but there’s not a lot that inspires me. The improvement from Ralf/Ole hasn’t been enough

 

[maximus419]

Not his decision but let's do preseason for footballing reasons rather than commercial. It's obvious the squad hated the US tour. We're not prepared enough for the season.

Many teams went to the US this summer, including Newcastle and Arsenal and they didn't perform like they weren't prepared. We've also had a few weeks since that tour, it's a weak excuse to say that played a part tonight.

 

[The Mitcher]

Can't build from the back, can't keep possession, no patterns of play, a lot of running around and general chaos... got some flashbacks to Ole's and Rangnick's time at the club. Not a pleasant feeling.

He deserves time, though.

He doesn't deserve time if he can't even coach the team to get basic things right. Especially when this is a team made up of most of his signings now.

 

[Samid]

His football in the league has been trash throughout. If this was a rival team we’d be laughing our arses off and rightly so.

Piss easy home cup runs and EL where we went full strength plus Rashy’s purple patch papered over a lot of the cracks last season. There is simply no hiding space this year. Perform or get the feck out.

 

[fergosaurus]

Knee jerk reaction but I think he's run out of ideas. He said in his press conference Friday that it wasn't about wolves, it was about making sure we do our thing and we have worked hard and are ready.

Well, if that is being ready, I'd hate to see what being unprepared looks like. Ajax fans said in his final season they were glad he was going, they said he made too many baffling decisions, playing a side with ageing players who were too slow and not rotating enough. Also said he waits too long to make subs and relies too much on some players and doesn't give youth a chance. Sound familiar?

Garnacho and Pellistri got minutes tonight. Who else do you expect him to be playing?

 

[Tiber]

The amount of money invested in Mount and Antony is deeply troubling

 

[Baxquux]

Murtough let that happen despite it being his main remit to avoid such a scenario, I will blame him for that because he has been spineless so far. A good DOF is on the phone bringing in Amrabat tomorrow because if this goes south he going to be left holding an empty sack or getting the sack too himself.

Again, we keep being told by other posters here to 'just trust the process' and how professional the back room operation is, and how we dont need a new DOF and how the rejection of bids for Scott McT was a good calculation and the purchase of Mount, when there were more red flags than plus points (i'm not denying you could produce a TIFOI football breakdown of his clever movements and press, and he was obvioulsy good at times for Chelsea back in the day), as the no.8 with his physical profile was ETH being smarter than all his critics and all the rest. There've been undeniable improvements in certain areas ( Licha, Onana, more of an emphasis upon ball retention in general, despite the mixed signals, Rash last season, 1-2 of the youngsters), but still so many questions both around his personal player judgement and about how the operation around him supplements his knowledge or pushes back against decisions where needs be...

It's just as likely we end up doing something like paying Brighton 20m+ to get De Zerbi out of his contract at the end of the season as ETH keeping us in the top 4, especially with other sides step[ping up their recruitment game and in particular strengthening midfield core...

 

[pascell]

First game of the season and people calling for the managers head? Christ, only on the Caf

 

[Skills]

Murtough let that happen despite it being his main remit to avoid such a scenario, I will blame him for that because he has been spineless so far. A good DOF is on the phone bringing in Amrabat tomorrow because if this goes south he going to be left holding an empty sack or getting the sack too himself.

Another one of his ex-players?

 

[Robbie Boy]

His football in the league has been trash throughout. If this was a rival team we’d be laughing our arses off and rightly so.

Piss easy home cup runs and EL where we went full strength plus Rashy’s purple patch papered over a lot of the cracks last season. There is simply no hiding space this year. Perform or get the feck out.

Ladies and gentlemen; this is from one of Ole's biggest backers. The sheer audacity and hyprosicy is quite outstanding. Take a bow son.

 

[Van Piorsing]

One player. Not the whole team. Aaron was great, but the team as a whole was set up terribly and clearly undercoached.

Yup... and we won.

I can pour a bucket of massive shit on him, when we'll play that brand to the end of the season, with all players club provided him, and will provide. No problemo.

 

[Kag]

Like Mount and Antony? He can buy as many players as he wants but it ain't helping us score goals so far. If Hojiland doesn't hit the ground running the pressure will be immense.

We needed players like them, too, yes. I don’t think they’re a problem, in truth.

Too many people underestimate just how bad our squad was this time last year. Probably the most poorly assembled squad (at a top club) in living memory.

I think we’re on the right track with the profile of players we’re bringing in, but we still need more. At least a new right back, centre half and another two midfielders over the next twelve months.

You can all get upset about how shit we were tonight, and I’ve already said that Ten Hag is responsible for the decision to isolate Casemiro as he is, but we don’t have any players at the club capable of playing alongside him. We need to buy and buy until the squad is finally ahead.

 

[Blood Mage]

Mount looking like such a pointless, detrimental signing already. The Qataris need to take away Erik's recruitment responsibilities when they get here.

 

[The Mitcher]

Yup... and we won.

I can pour a bucket of massive shit on him, when we'll play that brand to the end of the season, with all players club provided him, and will provide. No problemo.

We won but not because we dominated Wolves, it was against the run of play!

 

[Andycoleno9]

He needs more.

I actually think some of the criticism is justified, especially around the decision to pursue the midfield as it is, but the squad is still quite poor, and any coach would still need reinforcements.

We still have a lot of really thick players at the club, sadly. This includes some of our best players.

What he needs more exactly? Cover for Case and...? This is it. This is his (expensive) squad. First season he did good, top 4 and cup trophy. He deserved that we fans don't criticise some things.
Now it is time to deliver on the pitch. Starting with much better football than we showed today.

 

[Castia]

The bare minimum win or lose should be a system and style of play

Im sick of watching us play like shit even when we win

 

[DJ_21]

We seen a lot more last season. We need to get the basics right. I’m sure once we get our ST in and players up to scratch we’ll look much better. No excuses if we don’t win next week though. New managers who’ve not had long enough time with there squads should be beating teams that have had a managers ideas for over a year.

 

[Cathy Ferguson]

Murtough let that happen despite it being his main remit to avoid such a scenario, I will blame him for that because he has been spineless so far. A good DOF is on the phone bringing in Amrabat tomorrow because if this goes south he going to be left holding an empty sack or getting the sack too himself.

Bench Mount or Casemiro? Should have targeted Caicedo instead of Mount. Was obvious.

 

[DJ_21]

The bare minimum win or lose should be a system and style of play

Im sick of watching us play like shit even when we win

100%. It should all start with a system and clear style of play. Even if we lose at least we’ve stuck to our way of playing. More or less though we’ll get wins from playing a certain way.

 

[RedOrange]

He doesn't deserve time if he can't even coach the team to get basic things right. Especially when this is a team made up of most of his signings now.

Yes, let's sack the manager immediately after he has rebuilt the squad because they didn't win by enough in the first match. Brilliant plan.

 

[RetroStu]

Ladies and gentlemen; this is from one of Ole's biggest backers. The sheer audacity and hyprosicy is quite outstanding. Take a bow son.

I'd argue we were more exciting to watch under Ole, or atleast we would blow away a team every so often.
We havent really been good under any manager post SAF to be fair, not really, not like the SAF days anyway.

 

[The Mitcher]

His football in the league has been trash throughout. If this was a rival team we’d be laughing our arses off and rightly so.

Piss easy home cup runs and EL where we went full strength plus Rashy’s purple patch papered over a lot of the cracks last season. There is simply no hiding space this year. Perform or get the feck out.

Pretty much.

 

[Kag]

What he needs more exactly? Cover for Case and...? This is it. This is his (expensive) squad. First season he did good, top 4 and cup trophy. He deserved that we fans don't criticise some things.
Now it is time to deliver on the pitch. Starting with much better football than we showed today.

What exactly is that, though?

No manager on planet Earth gets this current squad, as it is, any higher than third. The players just aren’t good enough to do that.

The football needs to improve, and I expect we’ll play a lot better than that for the most part, but I do worry that the current midfield will get torn apart unless we invest further.

 

[The Mitcher]

Yes, let's sack the manager immediately after he has rebuilt the squad because they didn't win by enough in the first match. Brilliant plan.

I didn't say sack him. But how much time does he deserve? He's setting the team up wrong and not getting the basics right.

 

[Van Piorsing]

He's spent nearly 400 mill....

That's why it's great to give chances to players like Pelli and Garnacho, which he doesn't scared to give, even in matches like these.

Players like Amrabat, or even Mac Allister are not that expensive, and they are for the taking.

 

[Robbie Boy]

I'd argue we were more exciting to watch under Ole, or atleast we would blow away a team every so often.
We havent really been good under any manager post SAF to be fair, not really, not like the SAF days anyway.

My post was solely in relation to the sheer hyprosicy of that poster.

 

[Robbie Boy]

I didn't say sack him. But how much time does he deserve? He's setting the team up wrong and not getting the basics right.

What the feck are you talking about? Deserving time? We literally came third last season, won the LC and made it to the FA Cup Final.

 

[Berbaclass]

 

[Shark]

You can all get upset about how shit we were tonight, and I’ve already said that Ten Hag is responsible for the decision to isolate Casemiro as he is, but we don’t have any players at the club capable of playing alongside him. We need to buy and buy until the squad is finally ahead.

I'm not necessarily upset, just concerned about how many blatant flaws from last season showed up in one game. For years we've been saying United's end product in the final third is not right, and Antony is a total embodiment of that. It's a massive worry to me that our manager signed a player at RW so devoid of a footballing brain. The jury is still out on Mount obviously, but I can't see him working with Bruno on the pitch at all. As you say another midfielder is an absolute must, and it's got to be the right one.

 

[The Mitcher]

Grade A copium.

 

[Berbaclass]

 

[Trex]

You'll think we're 20 games into the season and in 9th position with the comments in here. Its the first game, players aren't even at their physical peak yet and we're aware most of them can do a hell of a lot better yet we won.
But a keyboard warrior gat to do what a keyboard warrior gat to do.

 

[Infra-red]

Can't build from the back, can't keep possession, no patterns of play, a lot of running around and general chaos... got some flashbacks to Ole's and Rangnick's time at the club. Not a pleasant feeling.

He deserves time, though.

To be fair, he's not interested in controlling possession. United had the lowest average possession figures of any of the 'big 6' last season and that will continue this season. We should judge him on what he is actually trying to do, which is create a potent transition side. Liverpool under Klopp is the blueprint, rather than City under Guardiola.

I think we are fairly well-organised, but the big issue is the gaping holes in the squad and lack of quality in the first team - both issues largely caused by United's continued ineptitude in the transfer market (I am yet to see any signs that Murtough et al really have any idea what they are doing).

Ten Hag does indeed deserve time, but United is not a good platform from which to build a title-challenge anymore.

 

[the_cliff]

That's why it's great to give chances to players like Pelli and Garnacho, which he doesn't scared to give, even in matches like these.

Players like Amrabat, or even Mac Allister are not that expensive, and they are for the taking.

I like ETH but the people giving excuses for these performances always mention that he needs backing. If it's taken us 400 mill worth of spending to get to the position we are in now, playing the football we're playing now then we may as well fold the club, to reach City we'd need to spend 3bill at the current trajectory....

How much do you think we need to spend to challenge for the title and play good football ?

Cos I watched Chelsea yesterday play better, Brighton play better, hell even Spurs played better and they got rid of Kane !

I'm not ETH out but he needs to fix this asap, that performance against anyone other than relegation fodder and we're getting embarrassed.

 

[#07]

Bench Mount or Casemiro? Should have targeted Caicedo instead of Mount. Was obvious.

It was and, if not Caicedo, then one of the many other box-to-box midfielders out there. Rice moved, MacAllister moved, Kovacic moved, Newcastle went out and got Tonali. Lavia is moving. We could probably tempt Fulham into selling Palhinha for £60m. For the cash we used on Mount, to experiment on playing him next to Bruno, we could've put some real pace and power next to Casemiro.

 

[JuriM]

Exactly, I don't think Arsenal really planned to get run at the last 15 mins of their game either and just sitting back. Sometimes things like these happen and you need to overcome some player's underrated performance. We need to fix the pressing compactness for the next game. You can't allow that much time for them to run at you.

 

[Telsim]

He doesn't deserve time if he can't even coach the team to get basic things right. Especially when this is a team made up of most of his signings now.

I remember him having a dire time and getting close to being given the sack by Ajax at some point. Before turning them into what he did. Bet an Ajax fan can tell us more.

Getting rid him is not a good idea. We are already heavily invested. He must see the season out, unless the wheels come off completely and we are mathematically out of top 5 before the season is out, but I don't believe that will happen.

He needs and deserves time. But I do recognize things will get hot for him if the improvement isn't coming soon.